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Aristotle On Excellence In Leadership
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Aristotle on Excellence in Leadership
Unknown "But when a whole family, or some individual, happens to be so preeminent in excellence as to surpass all others, then it is just that they should be the royal family and supreme over all, or that this one citizen should be king."(1288a15-20) The key to Aristotle's quote is hidden in his definition of excellence. In Aristotle's context excellence refers to the excellence of a citizen "relative to the constitution of which he is a member." (III: 4, 30-32) A state is defined by its constitution. The salvation of the state's constitution is the common interest of every citizen of that state. A citizen's excellence therefore is measured by his ability to work towards the salvation of the constitution. With an understanding of Aristotle's definition of "excellence" the meaning of his quote becomes quite simple. When a family or a person demonstrates superior excellence relative to his constitution, that family or person should rule the state. A citizen who is so preeminent in "excellence" is not the equal of the rest of the citizens of the state or at least his "excellence" does not equal that of the rest of the citizens. This citizen does not fit the mold of the common man. He is an outlier. Therefore, something must be done with him. The community could ostracize the supremely "excellent" citizen for having a quality different from the qualities of the majority. However, this course of action would only waste the gift of a small...
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